


Fathers

by Thegreatcactus



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: AU, Confused Will, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Male Pregnancy, Mpreg, NOT OMEGAVERSE, Oneshot, Pregnancy, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-02 03:01:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15787614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thegreatcactus/pseuds/Thegreatcactus
Summary: Is time for Will to tell Hannibal that he is pregnant, but he is too nervous to open the door and enter the doctor's office. It should be easy, in and out, but his feelings and expectations are in the way.





	Fathers

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I wrote this a while ago and forgot to post, so here we are. I imagined this to be placed somewhere in season 1; a part of the story I imagined to be placed in the conversation Hannibal and Will had in 1x09 when Will tell Hannibal he knows that Abigail killed Nick Boyle. I also made a video with this same plot so check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0p2yOx75AY 
> 
> My friend Celeste was my beta in this one, so the credits goes to her.

Will held the knob with a sweaty and shaking hand. _Time for the truth_. 

He stopped for a moment. Was it right? Should he be there? Well, the man had the right to know, but... He would think Will wanted something out of it. Which wasn't the case. Ok, so he would just enter the office, spit out those heavy words and leave before Hannibal could say anything. Because that was the whole point of Will being there. Telling him. Just an announcement. Right?

_Right?_

He could have texted him. Of course that would have been _too_ rude, even for Will, but it seemed like such a good idea now that he was standing in front of that door, like he was about to be judged by the inquisition. 

He took a deep breath, wiped his sweaty hands on his trousers and... Did nothing. _Come on, open this door_. 

That was the plan, right? Spit it out and run away. Like a teenager. Beautifully like a scared teenager. Yes. It wasn't that hard. It wasn't as hard as facing serial killers and human corpses disposed like paper craft toys. At least, it shouldn't be so hard. 

But it was. 

Spit it and run. Okay. 

Will turned the knob and entered Hannibal's office mechanically, like a robot. He watched his own body turn and imagined he would run away without speaking, but he just closed the door. Then, with his body as heavy as a stone, he turned to face his reality. 

Reality, known as Hannibal Lecter, sat in his desk, apparently drawing something that Will couldn't see from that distance. Hannibal had the pencil in his hand, not quite touching the paper, his eyes focused on Will. He didn't say anything, feeling that the silence would suffice in that moment. He was waiting for that, actually, but Will didn't know. Will felt grateful because the doctor didn't start any small talk. He just waited.

Will formed the words in his mind, then sent them to his mouth. Once. Twice. He couldn't make himself say it. 

Hannibal kept staring uprightly at him. Will imagined that it'd be easier if he lowered his head to the floor or looked at any other place but Hannibal’s face, but he couldn't make himself move. 

The words came with no advice, emotionless and in a tone so calm that it surprised Will, and instantly he regretted them, trying despairingly to put the words back in his mouth and leave, but it was too late. They were already standing in the air between the two men, clear as water, with no space for doubt or misunderstandings: "I'm pregnant." 

Hannibal seemed unfazed by it, and Will wondered, while a minute of silence stood between them, if he should repeat himself. You can't receive this kind of news and not change your expression, not even a bit. Maybe he hadn't heard Will clearly. Maybe... 

Well, who cares? It was said. Now it was time for the second part of the plan: run. Yet, Will was frozen in place. He couldn't move. 

Hannibal lowered the pencil on the table, and his voice was normal and calm as usual when he spoke. "Yes, I know." 

Will gasped, breathless with the shock of his answer. How...? How could he know? How did he...?

Alright. He was _Hannibal_. Hannibal always knew. But... 

"Can you tell me _how_ did you know?" Will watched himself ask, his lips moving as if they belonged to someone else.  He felt like an alien living inside his own body. 

Hannibal's answer shocked Will a bit more. "You smell different." 

"I... I _what_?!"

Hannibal explained, again with his face normal, as if it was a subject of daily conversations. "When people are pregnant, in the first months of gestation, they exhale a specific scent because of the hormonal changes." 

Will wasn't sure how to answer to this. "You... Know." 

Well, if he knew, then Will could leave. End of conversation. 

He was gathering forces to move when Hannibal spoke again. "Have you told Jack Crawford?"

What? 

_Did he hear what I just said?_

A man tells you he is pregnant and your first concern is if he told his boss? Something seemed oddly out of spot. 

"No." 

"Why not?"

_Because he is not the father?_

Will looked around for a moment before realizing. Hannibal didn't notice what he was saying. He heard and understood, but he didn't notice. He was proceeding as normal because to him this was like any other session. Will telling him something personal, he debating with questions, then both of them could get somewhere with it. A session. 

Well, if it was like he wanted to go... Will wouldn't make himself say the words "you are the father" because it actually didn't matter, so it was irrelevant if Hannibal understood that part or not. 

"Because I was hoping it wasn't true." Will confessed, like he would in a normal therapy session. It was hard for him to say it, it felt like he was betraying that part of himself that carried a small creature - he couldn't call it "baby" yet, but he felt like hurting his little embryo by acknowledging the fact that he'd never wanted it. He had never expected that to happen, especially in that situation.

It could have been worse, of course, it wasn't like that child would be the son of a drunken one-night stand, but still... They'd never even talked about what had happened. Will still didn't know how to call it. They. If there was such a thing to begin with. 

Hannibal finally expressed an emotion, and it wasn't the one Will was expecting. 

He seemed... _hurt_? 

Will didn't understand why he seemed disappointed, but waited for his answer. 

"You will have to tell him. It's not something you can hide for much longer." Hannibal's tone also seemed disappointed. 

Will wasn't sure of what to say. "Yes." 

Another long minute stood between them. Will couldn't help himself not to wonder if Hannibal understood or not the importance of what he was saying. Did he know it wasn't just a patient announcement and was playing with Will - or trying to give him space, perhaps? - or he just didn't connect the facts? It felt strange that he wouldn't understand, but people are people and they tend to get a little slow when it comes to personal business.

It didn't matter, actually. Will wasn't there to ask for anything or to claim Hannibal's part on making that child, he just... Well, at that moment he didn't know why he was still there anymore. 

"What are your plans now?" Hannibal followed with normal session talk. 

"Leave your office." Will said before he could stop himself. 

Hannibal flashed him a smile. "Long term plans, I meant." 

Will took a deep breath. He was getting annoyed. Was Hannibal playing with him? 

He knew it didn't matter; yet he couldn't leave that place without knowing. Will knew he would burn himself out with doubt, late at night laying on his bed, wondering if he'd made himself clear or not. Wondering if the doctor knew. 

Will rubbed his face, nervous, and spoke. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" His voice was almost a whisper, exhaustion catching him hard. 

"You are carrying a child" Hannibal said, simply as anything. Not as if it were a big information. "You're pregnant." 

Will shocked himself by hearing the words coming from someone else's mouth. Specially coming from Hannibal. 

Before he could stop himself, his mind formed an image that burned behind his eyelids with ferocity, punching him in the guts in a way he never believed to be possible. He imagined that same office, with that same doctor, but instead of seated in front of his desk, he was up in front of him, holding a small baby in his arms, singing a lithuanian lullaby. 

The image was so strong now in Will's mind that was hard to focus on what he was saying. "Can you explain to me how this is possible?"

"When two people have a sexual-"

"No." Will interrupted. "I didn't mean how _someone_ gets pregnant, I meant _me_." 

Hannibal frowned. "Like any normal human being." 

"Oh, come on!" Will shouted, annoyed. "Something happened here, Hannibal. And we are not talking about it! At first I thought it was a good thing because... Well, it happens, so it wasn't a big deal that you and me..." Will muted. He couldn't say it. With difficulty, he forced himself to make the words come out. "We had sex." 

"Yes."

_Are you dumb or what?_

"And we are not talking about this." Will pointed.

"Do you want to talk about this, Will?" Hannibal gesticulated to the pair of armchairs, where they used to have their sessions.

"This is not a session!" Will shouted again. "You... Can't you see what I'm trying to-? God!" Will rubbed his face that was turning red with irritability. "Look" Will lowered his tone. "I don't want anything from you, okay? I just... I just thought... Hell, I don't know what I thought, I don't know why I'm here" he said to himself. "I came to tell you that I'm pregnant an you're concerned about Jack, for Christ's sake."

"I'm concerned about you, not Jack." Hannibal stood up, a worried look on his face.

"Oh, shut up!"

"Will." The doctor reprehended.

"Don't 'Will' me, Hannibal! I don't know what I was expecting by coming here, I-... Bye." 

Will walked to the door, feeling a knot in his throat. What was he expecting? Hugs? No, of course not, he just expected Hannibal to say something like "alright, this is your problem" and that was all. Not this. Not... 

A gentle hand held his wrist. "Will." 

"Don't. Just _don't_."

"Let's talk about this." Hannibal had puppy eyes on his face.  "Now. Please." 

Will took a deep breath, annoyed, not much by Hannibal but more by his own behavior, with his own ability to create an expectation that this would go any different. "How many people do you think I've slept that could possible be..." Will couldn't finish the sentence.

"I don't know, Will." Hannibal gently slipped his hand away from the younger man's wrist. "How many people have you slept with that could possible be this children's father?" He completed the question for Will.

The answer came easier than he thought it would. "One." 

Will waited, facing the door - he didn't have the courage to gaze Hannibal now.

He waited for him to make the math, to match one event to the other. After a long minute of silence, he turned around and headed to the big window in Hannibal's office, gazing the outside world as if they were trapped in a snow globe. When he passed, he looked to the doctor with the corner of his eyes and saw the expression he was waiting all along: shock. A shock of knowledge. 

Hannibal didn't say a word even after a couple of minutes passed by. Will was watching the thin drizzle, visible only under the streetlights. "I don't want anything from you" he repeated, without turning to face the man. "I just thought it would be rude if you knew this by somebody else. But I don't want anything. I don't want money, help, your claim as parent on the baby's life, nothing." He made it very clear. "I didn't plan this and I didn't want it in any possible way, but now it happened and I won't take out this child. I thought about an abortion, but I can't. And I won't." Will made a small pause to take a deep breath, holding the instinct of rubbing his womb. "That's all." 

Yet, he did not move to leave. Will didn't see, but the hurt on Hannibal's face got even stronger. What kind of man Will thought he was? "That's not all."

Will didn't understand what he meant, so he turned his face to gaze Hannibal. The doctor was closer than he thought, standing only a few feet away. "You shouldn't have considered an abortion without speaking to me first. It's not an option." It wasn't a question. "It wasn't planned, I agree, but now it is." He made a small smile with the corners of his mouth. 

"I- I don't..." Will frowned. "I don't understand what you mean."

Hannibal smiled properly, openly talking about himself for once. "What makes you think I don't want this?" 

"But... You..." Will wasn't following. "I mean, we- we had sex, um, once, and... We are not... Together, we didn't even talk about..." 

"We didn't talk about it because you decided not to talk about it. I couldn't press you into talking. This wasn't planned, but I'm flexible enough to change my plans."

Will lowered his eyes, feeling guilty. "You don't have to."

"I know. I _want_ to." 

Will lost a heartbeat. "You... _What?_ Yo-You want..." He wasn't sure if he should ask, but he couldn't help himself. It was too much to assimilate. "You want... _me_?"

Hannibal acted like his role of therapist, answering a question with another question. "Do you? Do you want me to want you, Will?"

 _Yes_ , his mind screamed. But he couldn't say it. That was too much. So he looked out the window again, and showed a wry smile while speaking. "Stop psychoanalyzing me."

Hannibal answer came quickly. "I'm not."

Will blushed even more than he knew he was already blushing when he gazed at the man again. They exchanged a deep, intense gaze that said it all. That was the brilliancy of them: they knew each other so well, they were _so_ alike, that some things could be left unspoken. 

Yet, Hannibal choose to speak, just to make it clearer. He rested a hand on Will's shoulder before separating his lips to speak. " _We are fathers now_." 

Will looked at him again, staring at those big brown eyes that seemed proudly happy like never before, and in that same instant, he finally understood that he was wanted all along. Everything fell into place, for the first time in his life. And for the first time he knew things would be fine. 

They were together. They would be fine together, and they would have a baby.

Hannibal and Will were fathers. 

And it all would be fine.

**Author's Note:**

> Did you like it? I hope yes, it isn't amazing, but I had fun writing!


End file.
